Chajnantor means “place of departure,” or more poetically “place of ascension” in the Kunza language of the Atacama region. It is a plateau about 5000 meters (16,000 feet) above sea level. It’s elevation and arid climate makes for extremely difficult working conditions, but it also makes it perfect for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA.

I’m exhausted. I didn’t write a post yesterday because I was traveling back from Chile to Rochester. Normally I would have had a pre-written post, but in the past 10 days I’ve been on seven airline flights, traveled thousands of miles, stayed up far too late looking at stars, learning new things about astronomy in Chile and meeting new friends. …

The main site at ALMA is at an elevation of 16,400 feet. Roughly half the atmosphere is below you at that point, and oxygen levels are pretty low. It can have some minor adverse effects in the best conditions, and downright life-threatening effects in the worst. So you have to pass a basic physical on site, and if you don’t …

Yesterday we arrived at the Atacama region of Chile, and are staying in the small town of San Pedro. Atacama is perhaps the driest region in the world, and San Pedro is at an elevation of about 8,000 feet. That combination can be quite a punch. Fortunately we’ve been at a similar elevation the past couple of days at CTIO, …